another year older-

Five already?!

But she was just this -

And then this -

And then this -

Now she is five years old! It is so fun to see what they have become so far in life, but it is hard when they figure out that they don't 'need' mom and dad quite like they did as a newborn. (of course, we still have several years ahead of us with this little fire cracker!) Millie loves to snuggle, gives awesome bear hugs, kisses me 'just because,' loves our reading books together at bedtime and is constantly busy. She doesn't like any attention on her if she gets hurt (she'll grunt at you), she loves to play with friends - very social, she's an early riser and has become pretty computer savvy. Millie giggles...a lot and is rarely seen walking anywhere! Can you tell that we think this girl is pretty special?

The Christmas Choir Concert was on her birthday, so we celebrated as family earlier in the day and had her first friend party the following week.

Concentrating hard before the big blow -

Millie and her cute bunch of girlfriends.

Me and Millie on her big day-

Happy Birthday, Millie Moo! We sure love you to the moon and back!

'sing, choirs of angels...'

This year all 3 of our girls participated in the children's choir. It was such a sweet concert...truly a choir of angels. All dressed in white choir robes, the children's (and young ladies) voices sounded especially beautiful in the Tabernacle. This is Millie's first year participating in the choir. Some days were better than others when it came to going to the practices (playing with friends always sounds so much more appealing!). But she ended up enjoying the concert and did a wonderful job!

Such a sweet smile.

And Natalie counts down the days for 'choir day.' She LOVES it and has a beautiful voice to prove. She did a fabulous job, as well!

Ahh, Maren. This girl was born singing with a perfert-pitch singing voice. As always, she did a great job! She is quite a talented singer! This year she has been helping with the young singers, which is Millie's group.

Thank you, girls, for a wonderful concert to set the tone of this Christmas season! We are so proud of each of you!

Pre-Summer BBQ

I just came across these pictures from a get-together way back in May with some our dearest friends. It had all the feeling of being far away in a canyon--a running stream, wide-open spaces, a fire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows, logs to sit on by the fire and the smell of smoke in our hair and on our clothes. But we were just steps away from all the conveniences of home!

And Eli just loved those wide-open spaces!

We really did have dinner before Natalie enjoyed this smore...but doesn't she make it look so good!

A leash for Eli would have been helpful. He was very interested in the fire. Dad had one hand on Eli's shorts and one hand helping Millie roast her marshmallows.

Natalie was trying to avoid the smoke while roasting...

Alan giving Davis some roasting pointers, I'm sure.

We sure love the Bailey and Butters families. We really need to do this more often! Thanks Bailey family for inviting us to your beautiful outdoor retreat!

halloween 2009

Now that it's almost December....I thought that I had better hurry and document Halloween! Usually it begins with a morning of getting costumes ready for school, school parades and parties, then home for a few hours just to do it all over again. But with Halloween falling on a Saturday, it really made the day a lot less hectic. We filled our bellies with warm chili and rolls before heading out to fill it with junk!

Here is our very own nerd and ninja...

And our hula dancer and cute little witch...

Can't forget the carved pumpkin! Notice the singular word 'pumpkin'...just didn't happen for all of us to carve one this year, and I'm way past the guilt! But, man oh man, Eli LOVED 'helping' daddy!

We tried and tried to get that cheetah costume on Eli. But to no avail, he ended up in his moose pj's. Cute as a button and ready for bed when we were done! He really caught on to the whole 'ring-the-doorbell-and-get-candy' thing!

For being Eli's first real Halloween, I failed in the photography department. But again...no guilt. All in all, we had a great Halloween!

ready or not!

It's snowing outside and it's only October! But I must confess...I do like it! Not the mess that it brings into the house and car, not the on and off of snow clothes multiple times a day (really), not the ferocious wind that usually accompanies the storms, but the crispness of the air (ok, sometimes down right bone-chilling), wearing sweaters and jeans, hot chocolate, the coziness of being indoors when it is too cold to be outside (again, ask me in a couple of months how I feel), and the beauty of fresh fallen snow - nothing like it.

I admit, I think before Halloween is a bit early for this white stuff. I was still enjoying the fall foliage.

But it's here -

And so are the snow clothes! Millie was so excited to get all bundled up (only twice yesterday) to eat some fresh snow!

But with our Fall/Halloween decor in place, our spiders dangling around the kitchen and all the costumes ready for use, we are ready for this eventful time of year - even if it means snow!

Eli frequents the table and countertop in order to get a closer look at our 'piders. He gets very excited about these little guys.

Kissing the 'pider.

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween!

fourteen...

Our little miss Maren is not so little anymore. . . and it's making me panic a bit!

For her 14th birthday celebration, she and a few of her friends were able to spend the evening {CREATING}! They each picked a piece of pottery, came up with their own designs and then painted away. They all did such a great job on their creations!

The girls had one table and the rest of us had another! The littlest one of 'us' stayed home to play with a sitter. But, just look at all of our artists at work!

Dad working hard on his choice of pottery...a skull!

And like father, like son. I must admit, their skulls looked pretty awesome!

Arrgghh! 'Pirate' Millie was so in to this little penguin. I was unsure how much time she would really spend on painting it. She was very careful and did such a great job!

And look at this masterpiece. Truly. Natalie could have a real future at being an artist!

The whole gang back at home for food and movie fun! Very nice girls, those friends of hers.

Our family celbration consisted of a personal requested birthday dinner of steak, potatoes, and fruit salad. Even Grammy and Papa were able to join us! But no cake for this one. Maren asked for a Lemon Blueberry Tart. A true sign of getting older...more mature tastebuds!

And she thought she knew everything that she was getting - one of her surprises was a charm necklace with her initial.

We sure love this girl! Happy Birthday Maren! We hope you had a wonderful 14th. XOXOXO

our little man

Now, just look at him....not a baby anymore. Well, yes, he still wears diapers and sleeps in his crib (hasn't even attempted climbing out!). He only has a handful of recognizable words, but adds to his vocabulary daily! He can't be trusted alone -- he'll be into and onto everything. He is frequently found on the counters, 'playing' in the knives drawer, chair pulled over to the sink 'cleaning', on top of the piano and playing with his feet, and especially LOVES dad's office and all of his sharpies!

Eli really likes his new coat -

And, ahh, yes. Dad's sharpies -

He enjoyed showing me his artwork while I documented his {naughtiness}!

And adding to this list of his frequent stops...the dryer.

{Naughtiness} and all....we LOVE this boy!